


Barrels and Birdwatching

by Eggling



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: M/M, just fluff really. they're vibing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:07:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28933764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eggling/pseuds/Eggling
Summary: “You’re just encouragin’ me now. If ye don’t want me tae sleep, ye shouldnae go around – pattin’ my hair.”“But it’s so eminently pattable.”“Then dinnae blame me if I go tae sleep.”The Doctor and Jamie spend the day in a meadow.
Relationships: Second Doctor/Jamie McCrimmon
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Barrels and Birdwatching

**Author's Note:**

> for [ettelwenailinon](ettelwenailinon.tumblr.com).
> 
> on [tumblr](https://the--highlanders.tumblr.com/post/641100205320814592/barrels-and-birdwatching).

“So then I said -” The Doctor’s hands moved wildly as he talked, filling the air. Squinting up at them, Jamie tried to track their movement, but the sky was too bright for him to keep his eyes open for long, and the sun was tantalisingly warm on his eyelids. “ _Why don’t you have a look down there yourself, then?_ And – would you believe it -” He paused, his coat rustling as if his hands had fallen down to his sides. “Jamie, are you listening to me?”

“Aye, ‘course I am,” Jamie murmured, his lips twitching into a lazy smile. “Ye were tellin’ me about how ye got the old innkeeper tae go down into the cellar.”

“Hmph.” He cracked his eyes open just enough to catch a glimpse of the Doctor’s frown, and grinned at his displeasure at having been foiled. “Well, you don’t look like you’re listening.”

“I am listening.” It was hardly his fault, Jamie thought, that the day was so warm, or that the field they were sitting in was carpeted in soft grass. They were settled in the shade of a cluster of tall pines, alone in the meadow but for the twittering or flickering of the occasional bird. A chill breeze was rolling off the distant mountains, disturbed by nothing by the soft rise and fall of the Doctor’s voice and the slow chuckle of a far-off stream. It was only natural that he should stretch out in front of where the Doctor sat cross-legged, fold his arms behind him and close his eyes.

“Well, then. Don’t fall asleep.” The Doctor huffed again. “But would you believe it – he went down there!”

“’Cause you’d told him those other men had left a gold coin?”

“Yes! And he was terribly keen on getting to it before I did – so I wouldn’t have anything to pay my bill with, I don’t doubt. But he was _so_ keen that he left his keys at the bar. And you’ll never guess what I did next.”

“What?”

“Well, I thought of locking him in the cellar, but I wasn’t sure if he would be able to get out again. So I locked the front door of the in, and I – _Jamie_.”

“What?” Opening his eyes fully, Jamie pushed himself up just far enough that he could see comfortably without blinking. He craned his neck over his shoulder, straining to look around at the Doctor. “I’m _listenin’_. I like listenin’ to ye, that’s all.”

“Hmph.” Try as he might to look disapproving, the Doctor could not entirely hide his preening at the compliment. “Well -” He cleared his throat, patting his hair into shape. “There’s no need to be falling asleep.”

“We’ve been so busy lately.” Inching up a little, Jamie settled himself back down, this time with his shoulders squarely in the Doctor’s lap, his head against his thigh. “An’ I’m just resting my eyes, that’s all. I’m no’ going tae go tae sleep.”

“Hm.” The Doctor’s lips were pursed, but his hands settled quickly in Jamie’s hair, teasing out the strands. He moved softly, almost rhythmically, and Jamie could not help but smile, closing his eyes again and pressing his head more firmly against the Doctor’s leg. “Stop it, you.”

“You’re just encouragin’ me now,” Jamie protested. “If ye don’t want me tae sleep, ye shouldnae go around – pattin’ my hair.”

The Doctor flicked a few stray strands away from his face. “But it’s so eminently pattable.”

“Then dinnae blame me if I go tae sleep.” Jamie opened his mouth, but paused, wallowing in the feeling of the Doctor’s fingers rubbing against his scalp for a moment before he spoke again. “So did ye get tae the TARDIS in the end?”

“Mm?”

“After ye got away from the innkeeper.”

“Oh!” The Doctor’s hands paused, fingers curling against his cheeks. “Yes, I did. But it was terribly unfair of the innkeeper, to wake me up with a bill after I’d spent the night in a barrel – and then the cheek of the man, to have taken the money I had brought with me! You know -” He fell quiet, and Jamie frowned, opening his eyes again to blink against the light and struggling to sit up. A knot of dread was settling in his stomach, and he was sure the Doctor must have spotted some trouble – and sure enough, he found the Doctor staring at something in the distance.

“Hey, Doctor -” he began.

“Shh!” Pressing on his shoulders, the Doctor pushed him back down again. “There’s a bird over there.”

Struggling upwards against the Doctor’s hands, Jamie followed his finger to squint out across the meadow and scan the clump of pines he was pointing towards. “I don’t -” Something flickered, and he snapped his mouth shut, eyes fixed on one of the branches. He had been sure it had moved. It could have been the wind – but he had seen _something_.

“Just there, look.” Resting his arm on Jamie’s shoulder, the Doctor tilted his finger up just a little higher. “On that branch with the big pinecone.”

It certainly had feathers, Jamie thought, and a pointed head that might have ended in a beak, but it did not look like any sort of bird he knew. It seemed to have four legs, for starters, and long, curved claws that stuck out from the wrists of its wings. There was something a little unnerving about the way it scuttled along the branch, its legs moving too fast for him to follow – but then it paused, leaning down over the edge of the branch to peck at one of the pinecones, and the simple movement seemed so familiar that he could almost forget they were sitting on an alien planet.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Ah – a Raizian wren.” The Doctor’s voice was soft, almost breathless with awe. “You don’t see the four-legged variety particularly often. They’re like – red squirrels, I suppose, in your world.”

“Oh.” Jamie leant forward, like it would afford him a better view even over the great distance between himself and the bird. “Why’s it called a wren? It doesnae look like one.”

“Oh, it’s a loose translation. Look!” The Doctor clapped his hand over his mouth almost as soon as he had spoke, but the bird did not seem to notice, carrying on with its pecking unworriedly. “It’s picked quite a few of the pinecone scales off.”

“Is it eating them?”

“No, no, they’re carnivores, they eat lizards and – and things. No, I should imagine it’s going to build a nest with those.”

Leaning back, Jamie settled his head against the Doctor’s thigh again. “A nest?”

“Yes.” The Doctor did not so much as glance down, but his hands found Jamie’s hair as if of their own accord. “They build the most wonderful nests, you see. I wonder if we might see one on our way back to the TARDIS. They’re spherical, you know, and they hang them from the trees. It can be quite a sight when they’re all lined up.”

“Aye, I’m sure.”

“Perhaps we – oh, Jamie, what did I say about not going to sleep?”

“I’m no’ going tae sleep,” Jamie protested. “I’m just getting myself comfortable.”

“Oh, very well.” Even without opening his eyes, he knew the Doctor was looking at him doubtfully. “Well, if we get rained on, you shall have to take responsibility.”

“Can’t ye wake me?”

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly do that.” Jamie snorted, and the Doctor paused, sniffing disapprovingly. “I wouldn’t like to disturb you.”

“Mm.” Squeezing his eyes shut tighter, Jamie reached up to prod at the Doctor’s side. “What about another story, then? Tae keep me awake.”

“ _Really_ , Jamie,” the Doctor huffed. “I’m not an endless repository of stories, you know.”

He might have laughed at that, had his mind not been dulled down by the warmth and the sunlight and the quiet. Instead he simply smiled, grumbling out a soft, short chuckle from the back of his throat. “Ye could’ve fooled me.”

“Yes, well.” He was pleased with himself again, Jamie knew. “Hm. The bird is more interesting, anyway.”

“Is it?”

“Oh, yes. They usually travel in pairs, you see -” The fabric of the Doctor’s shirt brushed against Jamie’s face, like he had leant further forward for a better look. “So I suppose this one’s mate isn’t far away – not so close to the breeding season, and if they’re getting ready to build a nest...”

Turning his head to press the side of his face more firmly against the Doctor’s thigh, Jamie squeezed his eyes shut and let the Doctor’s busy chatter wash away his wakefulness.


End file.
